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Anyone have any advice on sizing of a Gi to take into account shinkage? I have purchased gi's from Iwata, Tozando, e-Budo and Bujin. Each shrank at least 1 size and some 1.5 to 2 sizes. Now before you post let me tell you I always wash them in cold and hang them to dry. But they still shrink. Personally I hate the 'unknown' factor of getting a gi that fits. I have also notice that sometimes a gi/model by a manufacturer shrinks differently even when I get the same size (of course there is a year between when I order).

Anyone have any advice on sizing of a Gi to take into account shinkage? I have purchased gi's from Iwata, Tozando, e-Budo and Bujin. Each shrank at least 1 size and some 1.5 to 2 sizes. Now before you post let me tell you I always wash them in cold and hang them to dry. But they still shrink. Personally I hate the 'unknown' factor of getting a gi that fits. I have also notice that sometimes a gi/model by a manufacturer shrinks differently even when I get the same size (of course there is a year between when I order).

Any thoughts?

Kent, I order mine from Asian World of Martial Arts, (awma.com) and I haven't had shrinkage issues with mine. I order the ProForce ones, and they're pretty inexpensive, and have shockingly held up quite well over the last year, especially since mine get thrown in the dryer with no regard to care. I do own 6 of them though, so even when I was training 5 days a week, each gi only got washed about once a week. Most of the guys in my dojo wear the Mugen Karate gi, but I really dislike the drawstring only on the pants. The ProForce ones I buy have an elastic waist with a drawstring. I have one of the Mugen tops, and I like it well enough, but the ties are thick, so it's hard to get a good knot to keep them closed well, although it hasn't shrunk much at all.

Kent, I order mine from Asian World of Martial Arts, (awma.com) and I haven't had shrinkage issues with mine. I order the ProForce ones, and they're pretty inexpensive, and have shockingly held up quite well over the last year, especially since mine get thrown in the dryer with no regard to care. I do own 6 of them though, so even when I was training 5 days a week, each gi only got washed about once a week. Most of the guys in my dojo wear the Mugen Karate gi, but I really dislike the drawstring only on the pants. The ProForce ones I buy have an elastic waist with a drawstring. I have one of the Mugen tops, and I like it well enough, but the ties are thick, so it's hard to get a good knot to keep them closed well, although it hasn't shrunk much at all.

--Ashley

i have been trying to find some replacement gi for the bujin ones. i will try the ProForce ones to see if that would work. Karate middle-weight?

It's a little known, actually quite well hidden, which is really in plain sight, that there are two schools practicing deadly ancient marital arts: Mucho shrinkage ryu and Mucho no-shrinkage ryu. They both have internal practice of yin yang, in yo ho, often out yo ho, and sometimes hi dee ho. They also practiced kitadama by chanting "hi ho! hi ho! off to work we go!" What has not been known, which is to say of acknowledging made up facts, that these two schools have been waging a secret war since the beginning of time, which meant yesterday, or closer to the day before today when i read this post. The conflict started when phi the barbarian, wearer of religious short, which has been of late very holes, accidentially, so he claimed, dried a load of delicates internal gi of the Mucho no-shrinkage ryu's high priestess that also known as the wife, bearer of bad tiding during the games, holler of taking out the garbage. The high priestess voice had increased several octave to the level of shattering nerves that produced major wincing affects on the high priest of the other ryu which also happened to be phi, the wearer of holy short, which soon be the wearer of crapping in my short.

"What did you do to my expensive Victoria Secrets stuffs ?!!!" High priestess holler.
"Look at this! Look at this!" continued the priestess in stuck record fashion. At which point the high priest made the mistake of openning his yap,
"I am looking! What is it?"
"It's my favorite Victoria Secrets! It cost $100! You shrank it, you idiot!" high priestess still at extreme range of sonics boom.
At which point the high priest made another tactical error and replied,
"$100 for that?! and you yelled at me for the palm size hand twisted activating cordless screw driver for $50!" the high priest also wondered how did she knew his secret middle name "yuidiot".
While too busy with his own thoughts, he did not noticed the high priestess employed an ancient thermic technique which sucked the head from the room, and drop the temperature to the hell-freeze-over degree Celcius. The high priest, for whatever reason, is denser this time which cuased him to keep open his yap, and said thing along the dmz line,
"I thought most women want their Victoria Secrets small to the point of disappearing!" The high priest continued lamenting why called Victoria Secrets when most the stuffs exposed a great deal, the kind of which should be, in many cases, hidden and thrown away the key, lest visage counternance of such things caused men to go mad at first sight. At which point the high priest's thought was rudely interupted by a pitcher of ice water which the high priestess has deposited down the high priest's holy short. This water boarding action, aye violating certain Geneva convention, thus caused unholy terror to the high priest where he loudly used high level kotodama "AAAIIIIEEEEOOOOO...." and realized that his unholy staff of priestly office had shrunk to nothing. However, true to his priestly nature, he yelled out, "what about our schedule duel of unholy alliance tonight?!" to this the high priestess reponded, still at extreme sonic boom, "You can duel with Rosie the priestess of Palms!"
The high priest groaned loudly, "AGAIN?!!!"

It's a little known, actually quite well hidden, which is really in plain sight, that there are two schools practicing deadly ancient marital arts: Mucho shrinkage ryu and Mucho no-shrinkage ryu. They both have internal practice of yin yang, in yo ho, often out yo ho, and sometimes hi dee ho. They also practiced kitadama by chanting "hi ho! hi ho! off to work we go!" What has not been known, which is to say of acknowledging made up facts, that these two schools have been waging a secret war since the beginning of time, which meant yesterday, or closer to the day before today when i read this post. The conflict started when phi the barbarian, wearer of religious short, which has been of late very holes, accidentially, so he claimed, dried a load of delicates internal gi of the Mucho no-shrinkage ryu's high priestess that also known as the wife, bearer of bad tiding during the games, holler of taking out the garbage. The high priestess voice had increased several octave to the level of shattering nerves that produced major wincing affects on the high priest of the other ryu which also happened to be phi, the wearer of holy short, which soon be the wearer of crapping in my short.

"What did you do to my expensive Victoria Secrets stuffs ?!!!" High priestess holler.
"Look at this! Look at this!" continued the priestess in stuck record fashion. At which point the high priest made the mistake of openning his yap,
"I am looking! What is it?"
"It's my favorite Victoria Secrets! It cost $100! You shrank it, you idiot!" high priestess still at extreme range of sonics boom.
At which point the high priest made another tactical error and replied,
"$100 for that?! and you yelled at me for the palm size hand twisted activating cordless screw driver for $50!" the high priest also wondered how did she knew his secret middle name "yuidiot".
While too busy with his own thoughts, he did not noticed the high priestess employed an ancient thermic technique which sucked the head from the room, and drop the temperature to the hell-freeze-over degree Celcius. The high priest, for whatever reason, is denser this time which cuased him to keep open his yap, and said thing along the dmz line,
"I thought most women want their Victoria Secrets small to the point of disappearing!" The high priest continued lamenting why called Victoria Secrets when most the stuffs exposed a great deal, the kind of which should be, in many cases, hidden and thrown away the key, lest visage counternance of such things caused men to go mad at first sight. At which point the high priest's thought was rudely interupted by a pitcher of ice water which the high priestess has deposited down the high priest's holy short. This water boarding action, aye violating certain Geneva convention, thus caused unholy terror to the high priest where he loudly used high level kotodama "AAAIIIIEEEEOOOOO...." and realized that his unholy staff of priestly office had shrunk to nothing. However, true to his priestly nature, he yelled out, "what about our schedule duel of unholy alliance tonight?!" to this the high priestess reponded, still at extreme sonic boom, "You can duel with Rosie the priestess of Palms!"
The high priest groaned loudly, "AGAIN?!!!"

I have no words. That is the greatest thing I have read in a very long time! I bow to you, sir!